''Somebody told me this was a good morning for a walk,'' Chiles joked with reporters as he headed for a car that would take him to Holmes Beach, where he will begin a month of rest and recuperation.

''I feel great,'' said Chiles, who walked with a measured step but bounced on his heels as he chatted briefly beneath the hospital portico.

The 55-year-old Democrat from Lakeland insisted on walking, although policy usually requires a patient to leave by wheelchair, said spokeswoman Cindy Walsh.

''I'm sure you can understand that,'' she said.

The three-term senator checked into the hospital Dec. 1 and had surgery Monday. The replacement of four life-threatening clogged arteries went as smoothly as Chiles' recovery, said his family physician, Dr. John V. Verner Jr. of Lakeland.

''I think he will live out a normal life,'' Verner said.

The length of Chiles' hospitalization was about normal, Verner said, ''though I think he looks better than most people do.''

Verner said Chiles should be recovered and back to work ''full steam'' in a month. Chiles said he can't wait to get back.

''They tell me they're about to close up,'' he said, referring to the Senate's plan to recess Dec. 13. ''If they weren't I'd go up there and help them out, I think. But under the circumstance I'm going to get out and do a lot of walking and hope to get in the woods a little bit and be raring and ready to go when they start next year.''

The Senate is scheduled to reconvene Jan. 21.

Chiles, who earned the nickname ''Walkin' Lawton'' during his 1970 campaign walk across Florida, faces re-election in 1988. Asked Saturday about seeking a fourth term, Chiles said he is not ready to declare his candidacy, ''but I like very much the job I have and look forward to continuing it.''

Chiles' father died at 61 and his sister at 56; both had heart disease, a family history that had alarmed Verner. The doctor found the blocked arteries Nov. 26, one week after Chiles experienced a tightness in his chest as he ran up the Capitol steps.

Because of the operation, Chiles faces the future in better physical condition than he did when he entered the hospital, Verner said.